I can't remember if I've shown this here before, forgive me if I have. This is a rig that I put together some years ago with the main requirement being to get the light where it was needed, over the subject. I don't do much macro work now but when I did, I had to work with 50mm, 100mm, 180mm lenses and various combinations of extension tubes and bellows, or any combination. This rig is incredibly versatile and satisfies the need to get the light up front very well. Enjoy.

PS: Now I need to dig it out and start shooting again.

Edit: If you want to make this rig, the adjustable arm is a Manfrotto 819-1 Hydrostatic Arm, the bracket is a Custom Brackets CB Mini-RC. The brass extender I sourced from China. The other bits you might need will depend on the flash you use.

Thanks Derek but I can't claim to be the original designer, I 'very slightly' modified a design I saw many years ago on Pentaxforums I think. As for the Sigma, I really wanted the SMC Pentax-FA* 200mm F4 Macro but a user with experience of using both assured me that there was an almost undetectable difference in image quality from the two lenses. The fact that the SMC Pentax-FA* 200mm F4 Macro rarely comes up for sale at a price that I could afford (or my wife would allow) I opted for the Sigma. It is a little faster too at f3.5 and I've never regretted buying it. Awesome lens for 1:1 macro, mediocre as a medium telephoto though.

The hydrostatic arm takes a bit of getting used to. Turning the one knob releases the three locking parts, top, middle, and bottom. If you don't support the flash it just all collapses in a heap.

That's pretty cool. Mike P has a siggy 180mm for sale on the other forum. Out of my reach though. So the arm is like those magic arms then. Just one locking point. Very handy once you remember to use both hands I remember you helping me out on how to use my camera on the other forum, years ago. I'm still learning

Derek897 wrote:Hi Peter. That looks like a really well thought out system. It would get the light right where you want it. That's only the 2nd sigma 180mm macro I've seen. Not jealous, much

I too need to sort out something like this!

Just to make you fully green Derek I unexpectedly picked up a Sigma 180 macro as part of a £80 job lot of lenses - I also got 20 assorted zooms with it, as well as the old Tamron adaptall2 300mm 'telemacro' I'd spotted in the photos. It was even local enough that I didn't have to pay postage.

The zooms weren't anything spectacular, but the adaptall mounts among them could have be sold for enough to cover most of the cost if all the lenses had turned out unusable. Admittedly my Sigma is only the older manual f/5.6 version & it's in Nikon mount but my bellows can cope with that... IMO it's still worth the £80 alone.

Derek897 wrote:Hi Peter. That looks like a really well thought out system. It would get the light right where you want it. That's only the 2nd sigma 180mm macro I've seen. Not jealous, much

I too need to sort out something like this!

Just to make you fully green Derek I unexpectedly picked up a Sigma 180 macro as part of a £80 job lot of lenses - I also got 20 assorted zooms with it, as well as the old Tamron adaptall2 300mm 'telemacro' I'd spotted in the photos. It was even local enough that I didn't have to pay postage.

The zooms weren't anything spectacular, but the adaptall mounts among them could have be sold for enough to cover most of the cost if all the lenses had turned out unusable. Admittedly my Sigma is only the older manual f/5.6 version & it's in Nikon mount but my bellows can cope with that... IMO it's still worth the £80 alone.